if elected republicans who really have done well in the pentagon its people like ronald reagan. of course, a movie actor who could go and talk to the elites in new york and washington, d.c. but also has this pipe is to give. the reagan democrats both in pennsylvania and ohio blue-collar workers. he could resonate with them. and it's not fair to say this to mitt romney, but he could not come he did not have the populist appeal. just by virtue of who he was who he is, his biography and his very demeanor. mitt romney, his brand was always going to be rich republican working gecko guy, and, of course, it ended up that way. >> host: matt lewis, the next morning, the morning after the election, quite early on you when the people who came out calling for changes in the republican party. you have a piece you call the republicans or the gop needs modernization, not moderation. even just the morning after we were still assessing what happened, how mitt romney lost the presidency. how republicans were not able to gain more ground in the senate. what were your initial reflections and what a